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As a hardware startup founder, I would like to note that the lean model only really works for hardware when you not creating something complex (ex lots of mecha

As a hardware startup founder, I would like to note that the lean model only really works for hardware when you not creating something complex (ex lots of mechanical parts or lots of integrated electronic systems). In cases like that, the lean method completely falls apart because of the cost, and it becomes really important to make sure your calculations and simulations are correct.

studentrob 11y ago
I'm sure it's true and I don't mean to diminish your comment but.. Isn't that kind of true for anything? Start small and build up. You're not going to be a contender of, say, Apple in a year or even 10, but there are several companies in the pipeline already at more advanced stages
- galfarragem 11y ago
  In some complex and mature markets if you start too small you will never be able to compete with existent players. "Starting up in a garage" works mostly on new and undeveloped markets.
  - Retric 11y ago
    Depends on what you can leverage. You can start a car comapny by modifying existing cars, go up market, build a business and use the same suppliers as the other car company's. Give it 40 years and you really can start a major car company from scratch. Granted this generally takes long enough that most people fail or get bought out.
    - WavingThe44 11y ago
      As an extreme example, before starting Tesla, Eberhard took an existing electric car [A], which was itself built on an existing kit car [B], and had a different battery technology installed [C]. And then used it as a proof of concept to start Tesla. [A] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Propulsion_tzero https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Propulsion_tzero [B] http://www.funcar.com/sportech/ http://www.funcar.com/sportech/ [C] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Propulsion_tzero#Lithium-ion_battery_conversion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Propulsion_tzero#Lithium-io...
mmmBacon 11y ago
Agreed. There are some important other steps as well. It's a bad idea to sell unreliable junk. So having a sense of what kind of reliability testing you need is key. Reliability testing should start as soon as possible. This testing often can identify significant problems in the design or assembly that are difficult to model. Things like temperature cycling, damp heat, and high temperature storage at a minimum. Also a big piece of HW design is designing for the whole distribution of parts you might get not just the parts you have now. Will your design fail if you get parts that are at the limit of the data sheet specs? This is where the modeling @FreedomToCreate is talking about is key. Lastly, making sure you really understand the concept of yielded cost. If you get your yielded costs wrong you will be wrapping dollar bills around every product you ship. If your gross margin is below ~35% on a new design you should be worried.

studentrob 11y ago

I'm sure it's true and I don't mean to diminish your comment but.. Isn't that kind of true for anything? Start small and build up. You're not going to be a contender of, say, Apple in a year or even 10, but there are several companies in the pipeline already at more advanced stages

galfarragem 11y ago
In some complex and mature markets if you start too small you will never be able to compete with existent players. "Starting up in a garage" works mostly on new and undeveloped markets.
- Retric 11y ago
  Depends on what you can leverage. You can start a car comapny by modifying existing cars, go up market, build a business and use the same suppliers as the other car company's. Give it 40 years and you really can start a major car company from scratch. Granted this generally takes long enough that most people fail or get bought out.
  - WavingThe44 11y ago
    As an extreme example, before starting Tesla, Eberhard took an existing electric car [A], which was itself built on an existing kit car [B], and had a different battery technology installed [C]. And then used it as a proof of concept to start Tesla. [A] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Propulsion_tzero https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Propulsion_tzero [B] http://www.funcar.com/sportech/ http://www.funcar.com/sportech/ [C] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Propulsion_tzero#Lithium-ion_battery_conversion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Propulsion_tzero#Lithium-io...

mmmBacon 11y ago

Agreed. There are some important other steps as well. It's a bad idea to sell unreliable junk. So having a sense of what kind of reliability testing you need is key. Reliability testing should start as soon as possible. This testing often can identify significant problems in the design or assembly that are difficult to model. Things like temperature cycling, damp heat, and high temperature storage at a minimum. Also a big piece of HW design is designing for the whole distribution of parts you might get not just the parts you have now. Will your design fail if you get parts that are at the limit of the data sheet specs? This is where the modeling @FreedomToCreate is talking about is key. Lastly, making sure you really understand the concept of yielded cost. If you get your yielded costs wrong you will be wrapping dollar bills around every product you ship. If your gross margin is below ~35% on a new design you should be worried.